The Finest Family in the Whole Bloomin' Land

This is a sponsored review from BlogHer and Slim·Fast.

My parents’ wedding was the year my Dad’s family held their first family reunion. Lore has it that my aunt said, “If we ever want to see each other again, we have to plan for it.” I suppose that sounds rather melodramatic, but with my dad’s marriage (he’s the youngest of four), the siblings would now be spread out in Utah, Washington state, New England, and Wisconsin. They actually might never see each other.

And so they decided on a bi-annual reunion, in which their parents, the four siblings, their spouses and their children, would gather. Responsibility for procuring a location and assigning food and activities would rotate among the spouses. Everyone would be expected to attend.

Every other summer, for my entire life, we’ve gone. Except for one summer where many of the grandchildren couldn’t attend for one reason or another, nearly every person has attended every year.

This July will be the 15th reunion.

We’ve done all sorts of things over the years – water sports, mask making, cooking, endless rounds of cards. Two activities, however, are staples.

First, a videotaped reenactment of a scripture story. In the early days, this was a very basic bathrobe and towel affair with an aunt or uncle narrating straight from the Bible. Today, the grandchildren have taken it over and it has become so full of stunts, special effects, and jokes that you wouldn’t recognize Moses if he smacked you in the head with a basket made of reeds. Two years ago, we watched some of the old ones, and I could almost not breathe for laughing. I have no idea what story we’ll be basing our fine film on this summer, but I assure you, you will not know it from Adam.

And then there is the night of music. My grandparents are both amazingly musical (many of the descendents. . . not so much). Usually there is a theme chosen and then a whole host of musical numbers, generally accompanied by dance routines and costumes, are performed by every possible combination of family members.

In 2009, my family donned berets and false mustaches and did a rousing rendition of “Those Canaan Days” from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. What we lacked in talent (and there was an astonishing dearth), we made up for in enthusiasm and ridiculous French accents.

This reunion will take place a week before my youngest sister’s wedding and one can only imagine the eyebrow raising that her poor fiance will do when he sees what an utterly insane family he is about to marry into.

And all wedding preparation had better be done before the reunion so that we have plenty of time to practice dance moves and perfect our Biblical costumes. We have our priorities.

If you'd like a chance to win a Slim-Fast gift pack (worth $100), tell me about your family reunions. Do you have them? If so, what kinds of traditions do you have?

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All Slim-Fast givewaway posts can be found at the BlogHer Promotions & Prizes page. The Slim-Fast sweepstakes will run from 3/28/2011 - 4/20/2011.